The Ref (1994)

Being held hostage is bad enough, but being trapped with a bickering couple on Christmas Eve might be even worse. Ted Demme's dark comedy "The Ref" stars Denis Leary as Gus, a clever, short-tempered cat burglar whose Christmas Eve heist at a wealthy Connecticut mansion goes wrong when a booby trap snares him and his bumbling getaway partner leaves him stranded. With police swarming the snowy little town, Gus ducks into a nearby house and takes its owners hostage, only to discover that Lloyd (Kevin Spacey) and Caroline (Judy Davis) are locked in the marriage from hell and are far too busy trading insults to be afraid of him. They've just come from a disastrous session with their real marriage counselor, where Caroline admitted an affair. To make matters worse, Lloyd's overbearing family, led by his domineering, wealthy mother (Glynis Johns), is on the way for Christmas dinner, along with his brother's family and their bratty kids, and the couple's scheming teenage son, who's been blackmailing his military school commander, comes home for the holidays. Gus forces everyone to pretend he's the couple's marriage counselor, and before long he's refereeing their battles, tying up relatives and delivering some blunt truths that might just save the marriage, if he can escape before the cops catch up with him.